Chapter 95: Hero, get ready for a skull-cracker!

30 minutes ago, at the Red Dragon Express Hotel

The hero party was shocked after watching the saintess’s broadcast.

First, they noticed there were many companions different from their own.

And to their disbelief, they saw a large number of monsters that were only seen in the Demon King’s army.

The saintess, who had always been reckless and focused on smashing heads, seemed unaware, but that undead army was part of the Demon King’s forces.

And then…

“How could she… How could my mother… What is she even doing?”

Erin the elf was foaming at the mouth in disbelief.

Not only had her mother gone off and had a son besides her daughter, but now she was dancing in revealing clothes in front of countless viewers.

And the person making her do this was none other than the saintess, their own companion.

The heavens seemed indifferent.

How could things have turned out like this?

“Isn’t this an irreparable level of mental damage?”

Maria asked, looking after Erin and addressing the hero.

“Hmm, it can’t be helped. Even for me, if I found out that my mother had left home, had more children, and then became a slave to one of my companions, I would be…”

Honestly, it would be horrifying.

“I never imagined the saintess would be fighting the Demon King’s army here.”

It’s truly surprising.

Who would have thought the saintess would come all the way here to fight the Demon King’s army?

Does that mean, as the hero, he failed?

The hero pondered.

“Yes, it was always the saintess, wherever she went. She came here to capture the Demon King.”

All of this, in the end, was for the purpose of capturing the Demon King.

“Oh, I don’t think that’s quite it.”

“But this is troublesome.”

The hero stared quietly at one side of the broadcast.

“Yes, that seems…”

“From the start, the saintess’s current companions don’t even meet the qualifications to enter this dungeon.”

“So, will you be going yourself?”

“Yes.”

This is something that will only be resolved if he goes personally.

“Then I should go too.”

“Maria, stay here and watch over Erin.”

If Erin were to lose control, things would get annoying.

Besides, if the entire party rushed to meet the saintess, it might overwhelm her.

Most importantly, it’s been a while since they last met.

He wasn’t sure how she’d react.

“Are you sure you can handle this alone?”

She knew the hero was strong, but reuniting with the saintess might be dangerous.

Though she was familiar with the saintess’s personality, the saintess in this world was different from the one she knew.

“Anyway, if I call for help, you can come, right? Just keep Erin from going wild.”

“Yes, sir.”

As the hero left the room, Maria returned her gaze to the broadcast.

Specifically, to the dungeon walls being shown on screen.

There, the entrance requirements were clearly displayed:

[Entry Requirement: The Hero Party of the Yukran Continent]

The entry conditions were extremely specific.

“How did those people even get in there?”

Maria broke into a cold sweat.

It seemed this world had more powerful beings than she had expected.

***

Suddenly, the hero appeared.

Perhaps he had been watching the broadcast, as he managed to find them just in time.

It inadvertently became an SOS signal.

Even though the broadcast had cut off when the Demon King appeared, the hero had sensed what was happening and came.

Honestly, it was the first time Maria felt genuinely relieved.

“I vowed never to witness my companions in despair again.”

The hero declared this firmly as he pressed his holy sword against the Demon King’s sword.

The holy sword in the hero’s hand began to shine brighter than ever before.

Could this be the true hero?

The hero who saves people.

The hero who saves the world.

“Hero! Where did you suddenly come from!?”

The Demon King was shocked.

Of course, he had every reason to be.

Even Maria had been surprised, so how much more for the Demon King?

“I tried to negotiate with you because I respected the demons. But no matter the reason, you touched someone precious to me. So, die.”

The light from the holy sword began to fill the tower.

Naturally, this light started to envelop the Demon King, who was known as the Lord of Darkness.

Though the Demon King clung to his dark sword in agony, it was clear his limits had been reached.

“Herooooo!”

“Dimensional Slash.”

Boom!

With a single swing, the hero cut through space and the Demon King disappeared along with the surrounding dimension.

Dimensional Slash was one of the hero’s sword techniques, a skill that could slice through space itself.

The Demon King vanished in an instant.

But it didn’t seem like he had died.

There was no way a being as powerful as the Demon King could be defeated in just one strike.

Honestly, even for the hero, defeating the Demon King was never easy.

“Hmm. As I thought, he wasn’t the complete Demon King. This was probably a clone or a half-powered version of him. His true form must be somewhere else. If a single Dimensional Slash was enough to make him disappear, there’s no other explanation.”

“His true form? Even though he was so strong, that was just a clone?”

Does that mean there’s no immediate danger here?

“Yes, and he even had the power to use divine abilities.”

“But, hero, how did you even get here?”

Just like the male lead of a third-rate romance drama, the hero arrived and watched the Demon King be sucked into space while casually shaking his sword.

“Originally, I was going to observe for a while, but considering Erin’s situation, I thought it was right for me to step in. Do you know why your friend collapsed?”

“Huh?”

The hero cautiously pointed at the wall.

A bumpy wall.

What was he trying to say?

“Look there.”

“Huh?”

For the first time, I looked closely at the dungeon’s inner walls.

Upon closer inspection, though it was hard to see due to the darkness, there were indeed some writings.

In the language of the continent of Yukran: [Entry Requirement: The Hero Party of Yukran Continent]

Wait, is this dungeon specifically designed for us?

Why would they place that here instead of the dungeon entrance?

Unless the guild alliance moved it or something.

“Your new comrades didn’t have the right to enter in the first place. Like those hunters from the guild, they probably couldn’t get past this room and ended up clearing away debris outside. The fact they even made it in here is surprising. Did they resist the Demon King’s power this much?”

“Wait, the Demon King did all this?”

“He likely called you here to exact revenge.”

But still, ‘entry requirement’?

What nonsense is this?

“How is it even possible to deny someone entry just because of that? This isn’t a game.”

“If the Demon King took inspiration from games in creating this dungeon in this world, it’s not impossible. After all, the Demon King has the authority to decide who can challenge him.”

“That’s unfair. Isn’t it?” What kind of world has such abilities outside of gods?

“Says the one blessed by the goddess and able to beat the Demon King with bare hands? I didn’t know this before fighting the Demon King either, but in Yukran’s creation myth, there were three gods. One of them, who lost the competition to rule the Yukran continent, fell to the lower world and became the Demon King. So, he does have that level of power. I didn’t mention it before, but that’s the truth of Yukran’s creation myth. It’s hard to find this in human records because knowing the Demon King was once a god might lead to more cults springing up, justifying their deaths by divine will.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

He should have told me!

This is entirely the hero’s fault for not saying anything.

“Well, before I could, you had already boldly declared you’d take down the Demon King and rushed off. There wasn’t much time.”

Okay, fine.

But what about the other two gods?

Could one of them be the goddess I serve?

“What about the other two gods?”

“One of the gods, seeing that the Demon King was killing their creations, sent a holy sword to the lower world. The Demon King believed only the hero with that sword could kill him, but that’s only half true. The holy sword is the only thing that can ignore the Demon King’s power. Among the three gods, the Demon King was the weakest, which is why he’s vulnerable to the holy sword. I don’t know why the Demon King is here, but maybe, just as your goddess moved you to this world, the Demon King has done something similar.”

That sounds plausible.

“What about the other god?”

“The last god split themselves into various deities to offer relief to the humans suffering under the Demon King’s rule. There’s hardly any record of this god, so I don’t know much. There might have been only two gods to begin with.”

Why do I have to know the history of a world I’ve left behind?

Wait, hold on.

What about the goddess I serve then?

“Wait, wait. What about the goddess I serve?”

“She could be one of the ones that split off.”

“Wow, so my goddess is just some minor deity?”

— Do you want to die?

Sorry.

But still, does that mean there are that many gods in that world?

Even though the goddess has been around for quite a while, doesn’t she have some clout?

— I don’t know. I’m also a bit confused by what the hero said.

Are you really a god?

— Gods don’t know everything. All I know is we need to defeat the Demon King and protect humans, our creations. That’s all you need to know.

I feel like I’ve been deceived by the goddess.

— What good will come from dwelling on this? I didn’t tell you to commit any sins.

As I was deep in thought about the nature of the goddess, the hero, oblivious, continued speaking.

“It seems this dungeon was created with the help of the Lich King, Veras. I didn’t expect you not to know about the Lich King’s army. The dragon you faced seems to be one of the dungeon’s monsters, but part of why you couldn’t fight the Demon King well is likely due to Veras’ curse.”

The Lich King, Veras?

“I never fought the Lich King.”

The Lich King.

One of the Demon King’s Four Generals, and a king among liches.

In life, he was a king of some country, known as a conqueror before he was overthrown and killed.

His undead army is said to be virtually limitless.

He can also place curses that drain his opponents’ abilities.

In other words, I walked right into a trap set by a half-powered Demon King, with the added difficulty of Veras’ home turf bonus and curses on top of it.

Plus, fighting tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of undead and the dragon meant I was already worn out.

Considering I was in the enemy’s territory, it’s no wonder a follower of a weakened goddess like me couldn’t fully use my strength.

— Who do you think caused my downfall in the first place?

“Of course, I didn’t face him directly, so I don’t know the details, but at that time, I was not fighting the Lich King. I was facing the Demon King’s army with the allied forces.”

“It seems the Lich King Veras is not here either. I’ve been here long enough to grasp the situation, and I think the Demon King’s true form is in that Tower of Destruction.”

That makes sense.

If he’s not here, the only place left for the Demon King is there.

“Then this is the end?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. Then—”

“Are you really going to just leave after this reunion?”

Of course.

If I get involved with you, I’ll have to deal with that elf and the Khitan mage too.

Still, if the hero decides to pull something like, ‘Hehehe, you can’t leave!’ there’d be no way out.

He’s a hero, so he won’t behave that slyly, but he might try to cling on, so I need to plan a bit.

I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Wait. Could you turn around? Can’t you see I’ve been ripped up while fighting?”

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

The hero blushed and turned around.

What a foolish hero.

So unnecessarily righteous.

That’s why you’re no match for me.

I raised my mace with all my strength.

To pull this off, I’d need quite a bit of power, especially with my already exhausted body.

I’ll have to strike him down in one blow with everything I’ve got.

“This is my chance.”

“Huh?”

“Skullcracker!”

Crack!

“Ugh?”

Thud!

I struck the hero on the back of the head, knocking him out cold.

This should be enough to leave him unconscious.

Not that it matters—he won’t die.

I’ve done this to him several times now.

Maybe it’s because of the holy sword’s divine power or whatever, but this hero won’t die no matter how severe the attack.

Even if I smash his skull, there’s only the sensation of hitting him—no actual skull-breaking.

See, there’s just a trickle of blood from his head.

If it were a normal person, their head would’ve been crushed beyond recognition.

“Ugh, my head hurts so much!”

As if on cue, the fallen returnees began to rise.

Now’s my chance.

As grateful as I am to the hero, once we get out of here, he’s definitely going to question me.

That’s why I decided to crack his skull.

Anyway, I’ve left enough of an impression, haven’t I?

So…

Let’s get out of here!

—Why do you think that way?

Well, it’s just….

—Excuse me, but we really don’t have any money. The hero and his comrades have been spending it all on charity, so from tomorrow we won’t even have dry bread to eat.

—Isn’t there any way to make up for it?

—There is, but it might burden everyone.

—You’ll just have to endure it. We’re fighting the Demon King, after all.

—If the hero agrees, then I do too.

—I’m always sorry to the saintess.

—Me too.

—Since the hero and everyone are okay with it, then let’s proceed. Because I have a role to play too.